Neutral has sold Bakers Place — the developer’s first completed mass timber project — for $37.2 million, roughly half the $73.83 million it borrowed to build it. That is according to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue and the Milwaukee Business Journal, with the March settlement coming after Neutral faced more than $15 million in liens across its Madison and Milwaukee projects.
Chicago-based asset manager Altitude Capital Partners took ownership of the 206-unit development on March 31, according to state conveyance records reviewed by The Daily Reporter, with the sale structured through affiliates Bakers Place SPE LLC and Bakers Place Acquisition LLC. Nate Helbach did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Neutral and Compass Properties secured the construction financing in January 2023, with JLL Capital Markets arranging a senior loan through Bank OZK and mezzanine financing via Pearlmark on the partnership’s behalf, according to a JLL announcement at the time.
The proceeds have since moved quickly through the subcontractor queue, with Neutral clearing $256,971 to Klein-Dickert Milwaukee, $189,376 to Sergenian’s Floor Coverings, $24,000 to Terra Engineering & Construction, and $44,066 to Sign Art Studio, according to court records. A $77,464 lien from Angus-Young Associates was also released, though a $168,282 claim from Bachmann Construction remains unpaid as of publication.
The sale does not resolve Neutral’s broader portfolio exposure — Fond du Lac-based C.D. Smith Construction filed more than US$10.15 million in liens against The Edison, a stalled 31-storey mass timber tower at 1005 N. Edison Street in Milwaukee, after leaving the site in September 2025, with a separate $4.1 million lien on Bakers Place confirmed paid in full as of April 7.
Construction on The Edison stalled after Helbach said in a statement that “pausing to value-engineer is a difficult but prudent step to safeguard the long-term success of 1005 N. Edison” —a pause that city officials say created a $25 million funding gap with no resolution in sight.
C.D. Smith’s March lawsuit seeking a potential foreclosure sale of the Milwaukee site remains before Wisconsin courts, with Lafayette Crump, Commissioner of Milwaukee’s Department of City Development, warning in October that continued cost overruns would make it “challenging to complete the project.” The claim leaves the partially completed Edison foundations — part of a $230 million development — in legal limbo pending the outcome of the suit.
Bakers Place opened for leasing in spring 2025, but roughly 90 of its 206 units remain unfilled as the new owner assumes control — a vacancy rate likely to shape how Altitude Capital Partners prices and repositions the building over the coming months. An affiliate also secured a lease with the City of Madison for up to 50 parking spaces at a nearby garage, a deal city officials approved despite resident concerns over Neutral’s outstanding contractor debts, according to Isthmus.
With the Bakers Place sale closed and The Edison’s foundations sitting idle since September 2025, Neutral now holds no completed asset in its portfolio — a position that leaves the developer dependent on the outcome of C.D. Smith’s US$10.15 million foreclosure claim to determine what, if anything, can be salvaged from a Milwaukee project that city officials say faces a $25 million funding gap and has not seen construction activity in seven months.
- To learn more about The Edison and Neutral’s approach to mass timber development, click here for Wood Central’s special feature.
